Restore hearing to 420 children affect by HIV/AIDS

Summary

This project provides hearing care to children who show signs of poor hearing and have no resources for hearing care, in collaboration with Eseka and Mbalmayo local hospitals in Cameroon. . The lack of resources results in early hearing issues undiagnosed, which often cause significant development and emotional problems that have long-lasting effects on vulnerable children. Hearing loss in children, whether it is congenital or acquired, is becoming more commonplace in youth.

Challenge

Hearing impairment can affect children in different ways, as it is essential to speech and language development, communication, and learning. Children with auditory processing problems have significant problems not only in all areas of academic achievement, especially reading and mathematical concepts but also in social functioning, as they feel isolated, without friends, and unhappy in school. Such challenges lead to early withdrawal from school institutions.

Solution

The first thing to do is to have the pediatric audiologist perform the child hearing testing to determine the severity and the cause of the hearing impairment. After evaluation, if the issue is a temporary hearing loss caused by wax buildup or ear infection, the audiologist treat the temporary hearing obstruction. Otherwise, he recommends an appropriate medical intervention program or treatment plan, including hearing aid, speech therapy, and other assistive listening devices.

Long-Term Impact

Given that hearing loss is a medical problem, the earlier hearing loss occurs in a child's life, the more it affects its development. In the same way, the earlier the audiologist intervention, the less negative is the long-term impact. In other words, children identified with a hearing loss who begin services early may be more productive and independents when they grow up.

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